Nuri Sahin the best central midfielder in 2015 [divider]

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Nuri Şahin has been found to be the top performing central midfielder in Europe since the turn of the year.

The Turkish international scored 100 in the CIES Football Observatory’s latest performance rankings.

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The scores and rankings are determined by six ‘key performance indicators’ – rigour, recovery, distribution, take on, chance, creation and shooting.

The Football Observatory is a research group within the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES), a private foundation affiliated to the University of Neuchâtel, in Switzerland.

Şahin made his debut for Borussia Dortmund aged just 16, becoming the youngest player to appear in the Bundesliga.

The Turkish international later joined Real Madrid and enjoyed a brief loan spell at Liverpool before returning to Dortmund.

The 25-year-old spent the first half of the season out injured but has since recovered and made 9 appearances in all competitions.

Şahin has 44 international caps for Turkey since making his debut in October 2005.